Government and the Global CEO: Fit for their Futures

PwC’s Annual Global CEO survey gives business leaders and governments across the world a unique insight into the vision and decisions of the global CEO. As in past years, we have extended and deepened the research for PwC’s 17th Annual Global CEO Survey by including a selection of interviews with senior decision-makers in governmental organisations across the world.

Get fit for the future through digital transformation. 81% of CEOs surveyed see technological advances as the main global trend which will transform business. And its transformative impact ranks even higher with CEOs running organisations with state backing at 86%.

Affordable government is the new reality. If government and public sector organisations are to put the fiscal issue finally to bed, the challenge is to adjust to this new reality by becoming more productive - ‘doing more for less’ (or ‘doing less for less’) - and get fit for the future while focusing on the outcomes that society needs and wants.

Deliver growth through collaboration. Building a platform for growth and competitiveness requires public sector leadership to facilitate collaboration across the public, private, not-for-profit and university sectors with a focus on infrastructure, innovation and skills.

Does government deliver for business?

Restore trust through engagement. Nearly a third (31%) of CEOs stated that they perceive the level of trust government and regulators have in their sector has deteriorated over the last five years.

Government and the Global CEO - Summary

Confidence among the CEOs who responded to the 17th Annual Global CEO Survey is at last stabilising, with a net positive balance of 37% of CEOs surveyed believing that the global economy will improve over the next 12 months – a marked improvement on a year ago. But fiscal deficits and the public sector debt burden remain a major threat on the horizon for business.

Government and the Global CEO - Fiscal deficits still in the spotlight

Confidence among the CEOs who responded to the 17th Annual Global CEO Survey is at last stabilising, with a net positive balance of 37% of CEOs surveyed believing that the global economy will improve over the next 12 months – a marked improvement on a year ago. But fiscal deficits and the public sector debt burden remain a major threat on the horizon for business.

Government and the Global CEO - Getting fit for the future through (digital) transformation

Governments and public sector organisations face a future where delivering services that are affordable, in the context of deficit-reducing budget cuts, is their new normal. So the challenge for public bodies is to become fit for the future, with a focus on redesigning public services and transforming their delivery, making the best use possible of digital advances.

Government and the Global CEO - Delivering growth through collaboration

In the post-crisis ‘new normal’ it is clear that more needs to be done to build a platform for sustainable growth and competitiveness through collaboration across sectors in order to address businesses’ top priorities of government, such as infrastructure (cited by 50% of CEOs surveyed, particularly in emerging markets) and skills (43%).

Government and the Global CEO - Restoring trust through engagement

Confidence among the CEOs who responded to the 17th Annual Global CEO Survey is at last stabilising, with a net positive balance of 37% of CEOs surveyed believing that the global economy will improve over the next 12 months – a marked improvement on a year ago. But fiscal deficits and the public sector debt burden remain a major threat on the horizon for business.